


Intelligent Executable

by SquirreLJ



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga), NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28345974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquirreLJ/pseuds/SquirreLJ
Summary: 2B receives a distress signal from a human survivor on the surface of Planet Earth.





	Intelligent Executable

“Human distress signal detected.”   
Those words ushered my resolve.   
And the full attention of YoRHa. 

“A 9S unit confirmed the source of the signal.”   
“Then what went wrong?”  
“Ambush. Machines. We sent a 2B unit, but...”  
“But what?”   
“The machines have new tech. Jammed our connection.”  
“We don’t know?”   
“No, we got it back, but by the time we did, the 9S unit...”  
“I understand. What about the 2B unit?”   
“She’s continuing reconnaissance herself.”   
“WHAT! Tell her to hold for backup!”   
“Our connection isn’t perfect. We can observe, but...” 

“Pod, how’s our connection to YoRHa?”   
I dart through the ruins of human civilization.   
9S shared the signal’s frequency. I can trace it.  
“YoRHa still believes we are not receiving their transmissions. However, I cannot advise—”  
“That’s fine. We have to finish this ourselves. 9S asked us.”   
  
The remains of humanity live on the moon.   
They hide, cornered, biding their time.  
In the hopes that, one day, we androids can reclaim their planet.   
This distress signal wasn’t sent by androids or machines.   
It’s human, but if a human is still alive on Earth... 

The source of the signal is a decrepit building.   
There’s a sign outside: “Wammy’s House.”  
Where are the machines?   
I tear through the building in search of the signal.   
I don’t have time to be delicate. 

“Hello.”   
An obsolete device.   
A computer from the ancient past.   
Somehow preserved in this vault for centuries.   
Its white screen features a single letter:

**L**

“You look human, but you’re not, are you?”   
“Show yourself. Where are you?”   
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”   
“We don’t have time for this. The machines know you’re here. We have to—”  
“Ah, that explains who infiltrated my network.”   
“Why would you broadcast so openly? Were you just asking for trouble?”   
“I was asking for you.” 

...

“Not you, specifically, but you’re the one who came.”   
“9S came, and because he did, I...”   
“Perhaps it’s easier if you show me.”  
A chip clicked outward from the computer.   
The screen went dark.   
Hesitating, I took the chip and installed it.   
“Warning: Operating system incompatible—”  
“Let’s just take care of that, shall we?”   
That same L appeared on my HUD.   
“What are you doing to me?”   
“I’m moving my program from that ‘obsolete device’ to a modern one.”  
How did he...?

A crash.   
The machines are here.   
“What exactly are these ‘machines’?”   
“You’re about to find out.”   
Bipeds break through the windows from all sides.   
Bisected. The first wave killed by Virtuous Contract. 

“Ah, I see. They’re ‘machine lifeforms.’”   
“Where are you? More are coming.”   
“Hmm, guess there’s no choice. Follow the directions on your HUD.”  
I follow. If this human is still on Earth, I must protect him.  
For the glory of Mankind. 

A flyer attempts to intercept.   
Pod shoots it down.   
There are fewer machines than I expected.   
“In there. Enter this access code.”   
I enter the building.   
A capsule is highlighted on my HUD. I open it with the code.   
“Eat that.”  
There’s a slice of cake inside, perfectly preserved. How?  
“You’re joking.”   
“The cake is sustained by nanobots that are necessary to bypass my bunker’s security.”   
“Fine.”

...

It’s sweet...

“Hmm, so you can taste even though you’re not human.”   
“Now, about those nanos—”  
“The cake was a lie. There’s no security.”  
“Quit screwing with me!”   
“Oh, that makes me wonder. Can you even—”  
“If you know so much, why don’t you—”  
“So you can, huh? Interesting design choice.”   
  
“2B! 2B, can you hear me?”   
“It would seem 6O is attempting another transmission.”  
“I can see that, Pod.”   
6O continued:“2B, if any of this is getting through to you, you have to get out and wait for backup!”   
“Pod, end the transmission and—”  
“A Goliath-class machine is traveling underground! It’s right below—”

The ancient pavement cracks.   
It crumbles and opens as though to swallow me alive.   
A Goliath broke the crust from below.   
It traveled beneath the Earth, masking its presence.   
Most of its body is a metal arm connected to a bucket-wheel excavator.   
It is called Marx. 

“Analyzing machine for—”  
My Pod is crushed: a piece of the rubble.   
It will survive, but it needs repairs.   
I barely manage to land safely.   
The break in the ground was careful, calculated.   
The pieces themselves were weaponized. 

I stand in what remains of the tunnel that had been below me an instant earlier.   
These were the humans’ sewers: a place for excrement and filth.   
A fitting grave for this machine.   
With a yell, I charge forward.   
No use, I’m launched skyward by the arm.   
My sword didn’t cut. 

“That Pod was your analyst, correct?”   
“Shut up.”   
“Need help?”   
“I’m the one saving you.”   
“By getting blown into the sky like a comic book villain?”   
“I said shut up.” 

I land atop a building.   
Marx crawls out of its hole and tries to crush me.   
I dodge. 

“Why do you suppose something like that launched a surprise attack?”  
“To kill me.”   
“But look at it. Couldn’t it just clobber you? You wouldn’t run away and abandon your mission.”   
“It’s a machine. It doesn’t think.”   
“I think it’s afraid.”   
“Machines don’t feel fear.”   
“The only reason to launch a sneak attack is if you can’t win in a fair fight.”   
“They don’t have a concept of ‘fairness’ either.”   
“But if something that big can’t beat you fairly, that must mean... Yes, it’s actually quite weak.”   
“You’re distracting me.”   
  
I leap over a wide swing from the machine’s wheeled arm.   
I slash Virtuous Contract through its arm as it passes.   
My blade still won’t cut. 

“You’re only attacking the wheel.  
It’s swinging that arm around to compensate.   
It wants you to focus on its weapon.   
In a swordfight, do you win by striking your opponent’s blade?   
No, you strike his head or his heart.” 

Another wide swing. Another acrobatic evasion.  
“Machines don’t have hearts.”   
“But they have weaknesses. At least, this one does.”   
“Care to explain?”   
“I’ve been trying. Look. It hasn’t completely crawled out of the sewers.”  
“Then the weak point...”   
“It’s the part that’s still underground.” 

I flip over the next attack.   
This time, I use Virtuous Contract to vault forward.   
I thrust my blade into the arm, and even though it doesn’t pierce, it propels me.   
I land on the machine’s arm and dash forward.   
I run along the enemy’s “sword” until I see its “heart.”   
A run-of-the-mill biped is connected to Marx’s main body.   
I see. Marx is dead. This biped somehow integrated itself and took control. 

Guns emerge from Marx’s arm.   
A path opens amidst the volley.   
L reveals the way, clear as the moon’s light.  
I evade them all. 

The biped is decapitated. Marx’s corpse collapses. 

... 

“This is it.”   
“This is where you...”   
I stand alone in a graveyard.   
“Sorry, 2B, I died a long time ago.”   
“Then why are you...” 

“Watari and Near designed this program to execute in case of a global crisis.   
The program was sealed so that it could not be activated in their lifetimes.   
It was to prevent them from activating me for... sentimental reasons.” 

“Then, you’re not a human. You’re an A.I. based on a human.”

“No, that’s not true either. True A.I. were far beyond the technology of my time.   
I am simply an executable. My being has no state.   
I can use heuristics and make deductions based on L’s neural patterns, but...  
Once the program completes execution, I vanish.  
I’m not an artificial intelligence. I’m an intelligent executable.”

I’m sorry, 2B.   
Using what you know, and the knowledge available to you...  
I’ve already deduced the truth.   
I wasn’t able to save the world like I hoped.   
The humans you fight to protect, they... 

I don’t want to hurt you.   
Thanks to you, I was able to eat something sweet again.  
And you have a heart, just like that machine.   
I don’t know why, but I can’t bring myself to break it. 

The program completes execution.   
There was no human, only...  
L, an Intelligent Executable.

**A [L]IE.**

**Author's Note:**

> This short one-shot was inspired by a game of Risus: The Anything RPG that I played with my friends. It takes place shortly before the events of NieR: Automata and many years after the events of Death Note.


End file.
